


Ricochet

by BunnyJess



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, and the other spartans, hell it made me cry and I wrote the thing, hopeful ending for humanity, sam’s thought process, this made my husband cry, thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: There were only ever two choices in that ship; let John take the shot, or take it instead. It’s simple for Sam when he thinks about it. Waste a life, or spend a life.
Kudos: 3





	Ricochet

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a song; this hurt so bad but in a good way.

They were designed to be the next step for humanity. To become more than they were. Heroes. Ghosts. Gods.

It didn’t matter in the end.

Not here. Not now. Airlock on the suit breached thanks to a single round from the enemy. He had to though. There were only two options. Dive in front of one of his oldest friends while the other shuts the doors, or let the best of them die just so he, himself, could live.

It wouldn’t work though. The effects of _his_ death would have ricocheted for years to come. Tears forever falling as every one of their brothers and sisters knew that if _he_ could die then they would too. No two ways about it. If _he_ could die, how would they survive?

So, the jump was made. Round burning through everything and causing pain to burst through like nothing except the augmentations had done. Maybe, just maybe, it’s why he’d been the first to recover from them. To do this one thing. To be the first of them.

Not wasting his life.

Spending the last bit of life to ensure the best of them lives on.

His name is shouted in curses. Love turned to desperation as his friends, his twins, realise just what he’s done. A favour repaid to ensure they can live on. Him dying is only a life spent; _him_ dying would be a whole race wasted.

The future will still be filled with burning plasma. This, though, this will show his family the bastards can be killed. They’ll know that the best of them lives on and so too can they.

He never wanted to haunt those he loved. To become a ghost amongst their thoughts. The first death of those that survived the hell of augmentation. The tallest. Closest friend of the best of them.

It’s not right. Yet, it’s what everyone would do for their leader who also happens to be their family.

 _She_ is the fastest, but even she isn’t fast enough to stop this. Her legs may be strong, but they’re not strong enough to shoulder the burden of their siblings. She might be Blue-2, but she’s not a leader in the same way _he_ is.

Deep down he knows, he knows he didn’t have it in himself to go with the grace afforded by old age. None of them will get that luxury. In every fight he’d been told that he was brave. His friends can wish he’d stayed, only then they’d be without the bravest of them. His brother so much more than he knew he’d ever be. Worth more to their family and their mission than he could ever become.

As the light burst bright it made true what he’d known since he was six. He could go anywhere he wanted, do anything he was brave enough to do, he’d just never be returning home. Not physically at least. His death would ricochet through their lives and show that the bastards could be killed. The highest price paid to keep _him_ with them. To keep the luck and hope alive when humanity needed it most.

A lullaby swims through his thoughts at the last moment. One they’d sung to each other those first few weeks. Now it’s his turn to sing it to the sky; to scream it across the stars to keep them safe. Their worst fears realised in that one blast; when his had come to fruition the second _he’d_ jumped in front all those weeks ago.

Their mission from day one had been the survival of humanity. A mission he completed with one jump. Humanity safe in the hands of his brother, their asshole friend turned leader. The one to get them through with the strength to carry the burden, the hope to make it to tomorrow, and the luck to survive against even the worst odds.

He knows his brother will carry on. It’s the least he can do, ensuring _he_ is able to.

Fourteen nanoseconds for a decision.

Fourteen minutes from leaving Chi Ceti.

Fourteen breaths to say goodbye.

Fourteen years spent to save friends.

It is an officers duty to decide if they will spend lives, not waste them. In this case, his brother didn’t have to.

He knew this was the end.

Tears inside his helmet as he says goodbye for the last time.

His name ricocheting through their ranks. Spiking determination to do one thing and one thing only…

Win.


End file.
